Monday, June 25, 2012

You Say Brew-shetta, I Say Brew-sketta

As regular readers know, Jim Dixon of RealGoodFood knows his Italian food. So when he says that the appetizer made with thinly sliced and toasted bread topped with all manner of delicious seasonal goodness is pronounced "brew-sketta," you'd best believe him. He's also working on expanding his selection of offerings and, if you're so inclined, you can give him a leg up by voting for him in the Chase Bank-Living Social grant contest. Details below the recipe.

Caramelized Onion, Caper & Sage Bruschetta

Let me get this little detail out of the way. It’s pronounced brew-sketta. Never brew-shetta, no matter what that sweet but not Italian-speaking server might call it. End of pronunciation rant.

I needed something to put on grilled bread this week. Onions in the pantry, sage in the garden and the newly-arrived Pantellerian capers (above, on the vine) seemed like a good idea. Slice a couple of yellow onions and start cooking them slowly in extra virgin olive oil; caramelizing onions takes time, so plan on at least 40 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, chop a handful of fresh sage leaves and a couple of anchovies and add them to the pan. Rinse the salt from a tablespoon or two of Pantellerian capers, chop them coarsely if you want (spreads the capery goodness around and keeps the little spheres from rolling off the bread), and add. A few chopped cloves of garlic are a good idea, too.

Let everything cook over a low flame until the onions start to brown, stirring occasionally. Grill or toast some good bread, drizzle with a bit of extra virgin, top with the onions, sprinkle on a bit of flor de sal, and eat. Then vote for Real Good Food.

* * *

Hi. This is Jim, and I'm applying for a business grant offered by Chase Bank and Living
Social. Real Good Food needs to grow, and while the chances of getting
the grant are only slightly better than winning the lottery, completing
the application has been a good first step in determining the best way
to expand. Part of the process is getting at least 250 people to support
my application. To help me continue offering you extra virgin olive oil
and other delicious stuff, please go to the Mission: Small Business home page
and click on the “Log in with Facebook” link. Enter Real Good Food in
the search box, choose Oregon from the pull-down menu to the right (you
can skip the City pull-down), and click “Vote” when the search results
come back. Thanks so much for your support!